Statement by Hon. Marlon Penn
Statutory bodies are parastatal government organisations. This means that these companies or organizations have some form of political authority or power and serve the state/government indirectly. They have their own administrations and are governed by a Board of Directors. Financing generally comes from the revenue they generate increased by a government subvention/grant.
Statutory bodies, specifically those created here in the Virgin Islands serve as semi-autonomous organisations that act like private corporations with the purpose of implementing government’s policies. Because of their flexibility they are able to act much faster than the government’s administrative bureaucracy.
The Board of Directors guides the organisation in the expeditious implementation of government’s policies and delivery of the services they are created to deliver. These organisations are tremendously important to the people of the Virgin Islands, to our sustainability, and to our economic growth and development. They are expected to, and are relied upon to perform the management of our two economic pillars of Financial Services and Tourism; our National Pension and National Health Insurance Plans; our Energy supply and Health Care services; our Tertiary Education; our Telecommunications industry; our air and marine ports; and our National Parks.
As one can tell, any incompetence on the part of the Board of Directors or the Administration of these organisations can mean disaster for the people of our country. Therefore it is vitally important that the members of the Boards and the personnel of the Administrations are carefully selected.
Administrators and other functionaries must be selected for their expertise in the duties they are chosen to perform. Likewise, Board members must be selected for their knowledge of the various policies and strategies necessary for the vision and mission for which the Statutory Body was created to be made a reality.
Too often and disastrous, however, our elected representatives use these significantly important positions within the Statutory Bodies and their Boards as rewards for the support given to them during the electoral process. On one too many occasions, these human resource selections, mainly based on support for a politician, are inexperienced and incompetent and replace experienced competent administrators and board members.
These appointments can have catastrophic consequences, particularly for our economy. For example, one misstep or one missed opportunity in the management of the Board of any one of our economic pillars because of inexperience or incompetence could mean slower economic recovery resulting in failed businesses, job losses, social unrest, and generally diminished quality of life in our country.
Examples of a Board’s economic importance can be found in our Tourism Pillar during this pandemic. Two very large components of our Tourism sector are Villa rentals and Yachting, both of which conveniently lend themselves to great quality vacations while adhering to very comfortable safety measures. Villas are usually in secluded areas with superb amenities – swimming pools and great views. Provisioning and entertainment could be provided at minimal risk during the quarantine period. Yachting proves an even more comfortable option during the quarantine period. The vast
expanse of our surrounding waters; along with the ever-present trade winds, the use of the many isolated beaches, coves, and reefs would be thoroughly enjoyed and barely considered a quarantine by our visitors.
These favourable conditions could have been successfully sold to our international market boosting our tourism economy during such a challenging time.
The marine and villa rental components of our Tourism Industry could have been restarted sooner, which would have reduced the loss of some of our market share to the U.S. Virgin Islands and increase the economic activity in our country. It stands to reason that with greater experience in the tourism industry those opportunities could have been taken advantage of.
For these reasons our leaders and administrators of our statutory boards, particularly the ones that deal with our economy and have to compete on the global stage, must be knowledgeable, experienced, and extremely skilled with the tools at their disposal.
We must make sure of this in order to keep us not only competitive but advancing in the global arena. Anything less is a recipe for economic failure that we may never recover from. We are now playing in a high-stakes game where there is no room for error.
It is, therefore, crystal clear that we must elect representatives who will put our country first. Representatives who will select knowledgeable, experienced, and competent administrators and board members to fill the vital roles of our all-important statutory bodies because to do otherwise could be disastrous for us all.